55Jay

Bannon's empty chair filled by..... Rick Perry.  Jeeeez! 

I hope, against hope probably, that Trump gets a handle on his seat of the pants hiring style.  He's said before he hires people who seem smart and "look the part", only to find out later they are morons.  It may have been contrived, but he hired an attractive black female, military vet, who asked him a question from the crowd on the campaign trail.  You look good, and smart, you're hired "sweetie". 

Same general observation up here in Korat.  Had several heavy rains over the past few weeks, most isolated but there have been a few wide-spread ones.  I left Immigration last week in a blinding rain squall, still hammering down when I arrived at the house 30 Kilometers away.    Today overcast, cool-ish breeze..... I feel like we're getting away with something and will pay a price for it later.  Ha ha.

2 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Very nice country, if you've ever been. Abu Dhabi great for families. Dubai more Western.

 

10 years has seen a lot of changes since I lived there. Now even conservative AD has an Irish pub. Massive growth in Whores - Pinays, Lebanese, Chinese, African, European, South American - more visible now too. 

 

They do have laws - getting publicly drunk, having sex on the beach or anywhere in public, living as man and wife when not legally married will all get you in trouble. But if you behave normally then no problems. Some of the 5 star hotels are more, shall we say liberal than others. 

 

They are a tolerant country and expect people to behave reasonable and with respect. Wouldn't say that about Pakistan, Afghanistan, and some of the other more radical less developed places.

Indeed.  There's something to be said for that part of the world.  They know what they like, and what they don't, and don't brook any BS in telling you.   Some of the best years of my life were spent there, the Arabs, et al, are quite wonderful, warm people once you get to know them, and they you.  Friendships, if done properly, can last a lifetime and, to coin a phrase from a Hollywood film, quite literally in some cases, save your life. 

His words belie the truth.  He is worried because he doesn't understand all this (not that I do either), so he downplays,  no big deal, look at me, I'm so calm.....  then convenes a commission to tell him what in the hell it all means, and how bad it's going to get if the Muricans decide to  quit being generous idiots with deep pockets.   I'm OK Jack, as long as Trump keeps his hands off my stack.  Don't worry, be happy.

This is also about relationships.  And attitude. 

Prayuth has been a bit too boastful about his deals with the new GF, China.  The US may downplay but surely have taken notice of it, and Prayuth's attitude; almost rubbing their noses in it.  I would think he regrets that and is worried, hence the mealy-mouthed, disingenuous cliche about what great, long time pals Thailand and the US are.  

3 minutes ago, rwdrwdrwd said:

I think technically apostasy is punishable by death. Perhaps just make up your own religion next time you're unlucky enough to have to visit.

It wasn't an ISIS caliphate.  I didn't renounce or abandon a religion, I never had one to begin with and I didn't slag them off about theirs.   Lived/worked in GCC States for about 14 years, never had a problem.

1 minute ago, kannot said:

NO...only if  u put "moron"  then they would know u were

  I like your posts most of the time, but that was a predictable, cheap shot.  You can do better than that!  LOL.

I was interested in Trump at first, but binned him when he won the primary and continued thrashing around like a bull in a china shop.  I still agree with some agenda items in broad strokes.  Details, execution and how they are communicated to the public..... atrocious. 

Trump ought to get a genuine "atta boy" about not taking/donating his salary.   He and his boys have screwed the pooch so badly so early, it's barely an honorable mention.

At any rate, the system and the real entrenched power brokers have been handed a basket of lemons, and accordingly, are making lemonade.  Trump and his crew aren't the first blustering, transient nincompoops to come along in their world.  Trump had a shot at changing that, even just a little bit, but blew it.  Bigly.

Good.  I typically get a pocket full of "just in case" cash at the start, then hole up at home and wait it out. 

6 hours ago, Graemej100 said:

"Idle hands are the devil's tool". Oh shit.  You really believe that. Jeeeez. Where do you live? Just outside of Reality?

And denim (jeans) is the devil's cloth. 

5 hours ago, sandemara said:

Alcohol: a chemical made by man. Marijuana, a plant made by God.  Who would you prefer to trust?

Well, alcohol isn't exactly a chemical made by man.  But I get your point, and would like to agree but can't now that you brought one of the mystical Sky Gods into it. 

The Army says they gave the video to the police.  In the full, linked article, the Regional Police LTCOL on the case says they have not received the video from the Army. 

In other Khao Sod articles, I wasn't aware the Army sued Chaiyaphum previously, apparently for posting an embarrassing video of a solider slapping a civilian around.  The Army lost their case.  That had to annoy the hell out of the Army, on top of the original embarrassment and exposure, at the hand of a lowly, stateless hill triber.

In other Khao Sod article, the Army claims Chaiyaphum wouldn't get out of the car at the search/check point and had to be extracted.  But in photos now released, Chaiyaphum is seen standing next to a single, unarmed soldier inspecting the vehicle, bent over, head in the engine compartment, no other soldiers in close proximity.... which just doesn't seem to add up had Chaiyaphum been combative and uncooperative just minutes before. 

But it is possible Chaiyaphum was dealing drugs, and the Army's statement that he bolted from the check point when the inspecting soldier discovered the Meth in the car, is plausible. 

Problem is, the Army says they purchased drugs from him this past January in a Sting operation, but Chaiyaphum ran away and avoided arrest.   So he was already well known to the Army in the area having embarrassed them previously.  The Army says they know all about him, including large bank transfers in his accounts from drug dealing.  And say they bought drugs from him, and he ran from them once already.  So why hadn't they tracked him down and arrested him in the meantime?  Certainly they recognized him in the car when it first stopped at the check point.  Why not arrest him on the spot for the previous drug deal and evading arrest?   Why wave the car in for, in the Army Commander's own words, a "routine" search, and let him stand there so casually, right next to the solider performing the vehicle search, as the photos show.

Obama wasn't rich.  As a Senator and Uni lecturer, was about 100k/year.

He took the POTUS 400k salary, but a lot of his wealth is from book deals, royalties and investments parlayed from that.  The post-presidential pension is 200k/year and he's apparently got another book deal on the cards. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/this-is-barack-obamas-net-worth-as-he-leaves-the-white-house/ar-BBve7Bg#page=1

By law, Presidents have to be paid as the Founding Fathers thought an unpaid POTUS would be more susceptible to bribery.  LOL.   Other Presidents who donated their POTUS salary to charity were Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy. 

Cool.... I'll make a note of that, thanks!

31 minutes ago, i claudius said:

I have many ,many friends here in Thailand , not one lives in a Ghetto , they all without exeption live in very close proximity to Thai people , in Fact we (my Thai wife and i) live in a gated Ghetto , although i am not the only falang in the village , there is another one , the other 50 or so family's are Thai ,

oh by the way the last time i had fish and chips was in the UK

Oh, so you're the 1, eh? 

I live among Thais as well, there's only 1 other farang that I know of in my moo baan.  I ate rice today.  Burped a word of thanks to my wife in Thai language.  Hurrah for me, alert the media.

BTW, I'm just having a bit of fun thinking about those who shout about integration being, in some cases, the least willing (or able?) to integrate when the tables are turned. 

There was a case of transgender being refused entry at the airport there (Dubai) late last year.

There was some recent confusion over a new law, with top lines reading that sex change operations were now legal in UAE. 

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/lawyers-back-changes-in-uae-law-allowing-gender-reassignment-surgery

Followed by another article 3 days later clarifying that that was not the case at all.

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/new-uae-law-does-not-legalise-sex-change

I didn't see it at first because of the angle, but indeed, he flew right over the front half of the 737 holding short of 20L where Harrison Ford was cleared to land.... but landed on the taxi way instead.

These things happen from time to time, including with the airlines, but old Captain Hans Solo might be getting close to hanging up his spurs.  He didn't, apparently was flying a Cessna Citation (jet) the next day. 

9 minutes ago, tukkytuktuk said:

This is what the UAE leaders say but is it what the people want? For example in Tunisia which is also a Muslim majority. The government rejected equal rights for women. So mass protests were held and the leaders had to give in and make laws that give women the same rights as men. Tunisia is also very tolerant of homosexuality as long as you keep it at home and not show affection in public.

I suspect vast majority would nod and agree with the policy.  Even the ones who didn't, would nod and agree. 

The analogy with Tunisia and women's rights is a good example, but not practical in this case. 

Overall I agree.  Sexual pref and fetishes are best left in the home or designated areas.  I've been over on this side of the world long enough that when I go back to the US now, I do a double take if I see a man and a woman sucking face in public.  What's that old saying, "Jeez, get a room you two!".  

12 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

For fun, try marking "Jew" and watch what happens. Equally fun, are  Pagan, Druid, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Evangelical Pentecostal Christian.

If I put Mormon, they would probably say I was crazy, and deport me. 

12 minutes ago, Prbkk said:

Probably because they would view apostasy or atheism as beyond comprehension. I always put "Christian" just to avoid possible scrutiny.

Thai tourists go to these places? Apart from Oman, there is nothing in the region that would be of the remotest interest to Thais.

Some of the younger drones looked like they were restraining their natural inquisitiveness, but wasn't the time or place to pursue such wild 'n' crazy ideas. 

I vaguely remember the start of the seat belt campaign in the US... what was it, like late 70's?  They beat it into us, for decades, and it worked.  Strapping on the seat belt is so automatic.  I feel weird if I don't put it on.  We are trainable, like Apes.  Although Apes are quicker and easy to deal with.  Associate the seat belt click with a few lovely bananas, and they are on board with the program!  

I'm a plain vanilla, heterosexual Caucasian male, so I've never had too much problem in any of the Gulf states.  They did look at me like an alien from Mars whenever I filled in "religion" box with "none".  What do you mean, you don't believe in God?  Really? 

On the other hand, they are so unapologetic about it.  Here's our policy for our country.  Don't like it?  Lump it or leave.  SJWs don't complain because they know Emiratis could give a shit if they are offended.... so they don't bother, and focus on other populations and politicians that have been sufficiently conditioned into caring... or at least pretending to.

I don't know anything about all this but was wondering if the recent announcement from the Head Thai Tax Pirate about tinkering with way tax on alcohol is calculated, was somehow linked to scrutiny on trade issues they knew was coming.   Way down the list of talking points at that level I'm sure, but that's me, a mere mortal consumer, contemplating from the cheap seats.  LOL.

If they could predict elections this way, that'd would be something! 

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